Beautiful Image of the Day
The Black Mambas, the world’s first all-female anti-poaching unit, protecting South Africa’s wild animals, by photographer Valeria van der Westhuizen.
Query Tip of the Day:
Does your query contain the phrase "living the perfect life?"
Time to get out the red pen.
No one but no one thinks they have a perfect life.
Everyone thinks there's something wrong.
What you're intending to convey is probably more like "living the life she thought she always wanted"....
until
but
and now
In other words, it's not perfect, it's the starting point.
When I see "living the perfect life" I almost always stop reading because it's sloppy writing. I'm not looking for sloppy writing. I'm looking for razor-sharp prose.
Fending off 3am angst:
Still watching the Great British Baking show but I am counting down the days to the new Bosch!
Progress on biscuits
Pet photo:
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| Waylon! |
As we wait for the world to enter it's new normal, many of us have Zoom or other video conferencing meetings . . . including Waylon. As he's a dog, he needs help logging on and troubleshooting video problems. But he's not background in the meeting, glimpsed by accident: he's the star of the show.If you're wondering what sort of video conference a dog would have scheduled, it's easy: behavior training. Because even very good dogs sometimes need help managing anxiety, and, with the pandemic, it's safer to train remotely than in person right now.I also included a photo of the desk in our kitchen, where Waylon has his meetings. We finished a kitchen remodel of our house in January. Since we didn't have to change the height of one of the kitchen windows, we built a desk under it, which turned out to be a brilliant addition. Everyone in the house (all humans, dog, cat) all want to use it. Well, the cat doesn't argue about desk rights as much as join whoever is using it. Even if they don't think they want her help. --blog reader Kelly Garrett
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| Severe envy! |
Status: still alive, still kicking! Stir crazy!
It's snowing. Saw a goldfinch in full yellow summer dress. Frogs woke up yesterday, chortling away. They're a bit somber this morning but at least the pond didn't freeze.
ReplyDeleteSplit a Masterclass with Richelle so I have Neil Gaiman and more to watch.
Looking forward to Harry!
Not enough snow to ski the driveway. That's ok.
After waking up to snow, I needed some good news. Reading that Bosch is returning on April 17th is great news.
ReplyDeleteIf you want something even more to look forward to on the 17th, the new Fiona Apple album will be released! That's reason enough to be positive for the next week.
ReplyDeleteI have always thought Titus Welliver was an untapped gem so I was so happy when Bosch first came out and he'd been tapped to play Harry.
ReplyDeleteWoke up to snow again this morning but the sun is out so maybe it will hit 40 today.
Just finished taking a video of a little wren perched on my hummer feeder and poking in every little hole looking for nectar. I've never seen that before.
Loving Waylon! And isn't he a smart doggie :) And his desk is awesome. I wish I had room for that.
Random thoughts today from a scattered mind, just trying to stay sane living with a whirlwind who makes a mess wherever he goes.
Great photos, especially the Black Mambas.
ReplyDeleteThis weekend I'm going to check out a comfort streaming recommendation called The Repair Shop on Netflix. I'm looking forward to the new season of Bosch.
There were periods of snow yesterday here in sw WI, but this morning is all bright sunshine. A brilliant red cardinal sat on the deck and sang.
Stay well.
I realised due to a twitter discussion today that the one thing missing from my lockdown is a dvd boxset of Sharpe. Haven't watched it for *years* but I feel some cheesy historical action involving peak Sean Bean might be just the thing right now.
ReplyDeleteHaving coffee in my garden with the squirrels. It's supposed to rain later and I'm solar powered so getting my writing and sun time in now.
ReplyDeleteGo Black Mambas! (The human ones. The reptiles terrify me).
Waylon is adorable.
Love that writing desk! I tend to do most of my writing outside. I can write inside when it's dark (though I do like to write by lantern light as well) but I need an indoor inclement weather writinf space as well. My dining room has a wall of windows overlooking part of my garden. I need to reclaim that.
I usually garden in color. Everything I've added lately has been white.
Wishing everyone health and peace.
Go Black Mambas!
ReplyDeleteI love that space, Kelly! And Hi, Waylon! My girl Tilly is doing remote training as well, keeping up her rally obedience. The instructor is going to start doing scent detection classes too, so we can carry on with that. What she'd really like are sheep, though. That "working from home" meme of the Border Collie sitting in front of a laptop with sheep on the screen made me laugh. I'm not sure my laptop would survive that, however.
My new favorite group - the Black Mambas. I LOVE that they are protecting the wild life!
ReplyDeleteI have NO idea who Bosch is. (yikes)
Waylon! That face!
The kitchen desk is nifty. The kitchen is where I write too - in an area of the bar that is lower than the rest, called a "pass through," but I confiscated it from the get go as my writing spot.
Close to the door to let Little Dog out, and the fridge. Plus, I have a bird's eye view of . . . the birds at the feeder. ;)
Go Black Mambas! I wonder if there are any good books out there about them. *searches the web*
ReplyDeleteMy pups are jealous that Waylon (and tilly) are getting remote training. They are stuck being trained by me because he only trainers in this here small town use methods that I don't agree with. Which basically means my dogs are little hellions half the time and little angels the other half. I really wish I had more time to dedicate to them. And so do they, I think. They've been awfully cuddly these past weeks. I've been utterly thankful for their presence. Even if Coop has taken to laying on top of my head at night.
We're self-isolating as best as possible. I've got longer hours at work and I'm still having o interact with people but I do what I can. Received the recent order that I must wear a mask (which I've avoided until now simply because I don't have any masks, don't have bandanas, and didn't want to show up in a courtroom with a t-shirt wrapped around my head. Plus, while I can hand-stitch, I can't seem to find my emergency sewing kit, except for a super small needle and some buttons. Fortunately, my sister is a stitch-witch and she and my niece have been making masks—so I've got something being specially delivered! Unfortunately, the package has been delayed, but my fingers are crossed it gets here before Monday.
My writing productivity has taken a severe hit. I was in the middle of writing an apocalyptic YA novel before this all started and well...I'm just not in the place to be writing it right now. It's too easy to convince myself that I can't write worth a darn.
For now, I'm living off of Sugar Rush and GBBO and Lego Masters and plowing all of the chores that need to get done (and then some. Cleaning grout with a toothbrush, hurrah!) with an occasional reading session or a few minutes with the video game Horizon Zero Dawn (which has stunning graphics).
Love being able to come here and see the posts every day. Glad to see that everyone is well, even if stir crazy. Was definitely jealous of the Queen's burger and fries and the like the other day.
Anyway--Happy April everyone.
ReplyDeleteThe Black Mamba's are a close second to that one pride of lions that have now dined on three separate occasions on poachers. One would think they would get a clue and stop poaching endangered animals.
But the Black Mamba's are the incarnation of "Karma"...Mother Natures sniper.
Stay safe out there. Cheers! Hank
What a great tip of the day! So true. It amazes me when you hear a tip like that, and it feels like common sense if you try to explain it to someone five minutes later.
ReplyDeleteYou can make this query tip more universal too. It's a great tip to remember for jacket copy and for your manuscript. (And real life, when you're listening to your neighbor espouse their theory on your other neighbor--not that I necessarily encourage that every chance I get.)
We were all set to leave tomorrow--all packed, tickets purchased, goodbyes said--when my husband briefly lost his sense of taste. (That's an early coronavirus symptom.) So now we're camping in our apartment for 2 weeks and gobbling zinc like gummi bears. This is an easy form of hard. But man, it's still hard.
ReplyDeleteDoes everybody think something is wrong? I guess our characters would be boring if they didn't. Quite the existential quandary, though...
ReplyDeleteIt's such a shame that wildlife need protecting, but the idea of conservation isn't new and so many people STILL just don't get it. I'm so glad that the Black Mambas are there. We need more teams like that, maybe a new kind of commonly hired mercenary company (did I just get a story idea? Maybe!)
A kitchen desk, how brilliant! Maybe if/when we finally remodel the weird room that is an isn't part of our kitchen, we'll do something like that. We'd thought about making it the library but. Kitchen. And we've thought about making it a pantry but it's HUGE. We don't need a breakfast nook (maybe that's what it's supposed to be?) so...kitchen desk is great!
Ulrike does pretty well training with just me...she actually LOVES the work of it and gets super amped. The problem is the more excited she is, the less keen her focus is, so we have to work on maintaining her threshold and directing that flow. And what's one of her favorite training treats? White cheddar Smartfood popcorn! My puppy is weird.
I covet that kitchen desk! The only "desk" in my kitchen is the booth, and the chief drawback is its proximity to food.
ReplyDeleteDog training by Zoom is the height of amazing! I'm sure Waylon has a much better handle on Zoom than I do.
I love the query advice -- that's not only sloppy writing, but sloppy thinking. It wouldn't make me optimistic that the writer has any grasp on human nature. Life is too short to read tales with cardboard cutouts for characters.
Thanks for sharing the photo of the Black Mambas!
ReplyDeleteI was surprised to see Waylon, I know Kelly and see him in my Insta feed often. Awesome!
I also find your "sloppy writing"advice helpful right now. I'm working on an ending to a short story and am in need of a better way to finish it.
Take care!
Almost missed your progress on biscuits.
ReplyDeleteWaylon looks like such a smart and usually well behaved fella.
I am glad others also appreciate those that protect the wild side, I don't want to talk about what all is happening in Florida, because the Black Mambas remind of an urban legend from down Miami way. That was a Green Mamba anyway.
Y'all try to have a happy weekend, but be sure to stay safe.
I love Waylon and I love that desk. Hi, Waylon!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE the photo of the Black Mambas - the experiences they must have lived through. They are quite inspiring.
ReplyDeleteHow have I not heard of BOSCH? I watched the trailer you posted, then headed over to my TV to make sure the Amazon fire stick I purchased last month is still there. I've no idea how to actually connect the dang thing, but now I'm motivated to figure it out.
Biscuit progress - made me laugh.
Waylon's a good boy. And a remarkably handsome one, at that.
Ah yes, a kitchen desk. It's quite lovely.
No biscuits, but tonight my husband said, wistfully, I wish we had dessert in the house. Off I skipped to the kitchen and whipped up a batch of brownies (I just need a reason, any reason). So we had brownies a la mode for dinner.
ReplyDeleteI almost missed my morning conference because I had no idea it was still a workday and not already the weekend.
Writing... lazy or otherwise, is painful. I always needed external input to re-energize. Whether meeting friends, a concert, a day at the museum, SOMETHING. Without that I'm finding I don't even understand my own characters. What do they want? Why are they bothering to get out of bed?
Which all reminds me of a joke: And other than THAT, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?
Take care everyone. Stay sane.